Maybe because they know they can’t compete with iTunes, or maybe because their online video store is kinda lame, or maybe just because engineers hate dancing, Google is staying out of the online music sales game.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking from the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) conference last week said the company had no plans to sell music online, squashing “GTunes” rumors for the foreseeable future.
But Google, not content to stay out of the music business altogether, has announced a partnership with MTV to distribute ad-supported video clips to Web site publishers. In partnering with MTV, Google is foregoing the YouTube-clone route (unlike Yahoo), choosing instead to partner on the back end with content owners.
MTV, which is trying to monetize content that is frequently placed on video-sharing sites, will split the profit with Google and the site where the syndicated video is placed. Google is billing the syndication network as a test, and clips will begin appearing later this month.